As the crossover between electronic, punk, and hip hop becomes a common place in modern music, talented artists are starting to emerge creating a euphoric and upbeat blend of music that is both unique and entertaining. The first track I heard from 3Oh!3 is called Don’t Trust me off the Want album.
I immediately fell in love with the track.. as I say in the title it is a pseudo cross between Mickey Avalon and MetroStation. Imagine a Shake it mix up with slightly toned down Mickey lyrics… It’s glorious.
Anticipating a one hit wonder, I reluctantly streamed a few more tracks via youtube. 15 minutes of pure joy played through my laptop speakers and I immediately purchased the album on itunes. I’ve listened to the entire album through probably 3 times already. The CD flows pretty well and although the songs do sound similar, there is enough variation to keep it interesting. If I didn’t know that these were two college physics majors from Boulder Colorado (the 303 area code - hence the name), I could easily believe one of them is a Lil’ Jon clone… which is hilarious in itself.
Honestly, 3oh!3 probably aren’t going to win an award or even get a lot of radio play, but as underground hip hop and upbeat party music, they are a fantastic duo that will surely provide some friday night preparty entertainment.
The weather in North Texas is fantastic right now. For all the bad that Ike has caused in the region, it left some mild temperatures and amazing days. It’s starting to feel like fall in Dallas!! This means its time to drive with your windows down, system up, and heated seats set on low!
I’ve said before that music is one of my passions. This weather has made me go back through my ipod and find the bands I use to love. Recently, I’ve reconnected with one of my favorite bands - Flickerstick.
This band was formed a long time ago (1997) in Dallas, Tx. They reached medium popularity through a Vh1 show called Band on the run. They went on to semi national recognition, but never really took off. Whenever I listen to their music, I’m pretty surprised that the bands singles didn’t get more national recognition. Their songs including, Got a feeling, Coke, and Beautiful, are all catchy songs with great chorus’, breaks and lyrics.
I have a small group of high school friends that come back into town from time to time. Whenever we all get together, we end up spending countless hours discussing music, movies, and television. We all consider ourselves critics of whatever we’re discussing. There is a bar in Richardson, Tx. that we have always gone to whenever we’re all together. Now in this bar, there is a jukebox. Last time we were together I came up with the idea of picking the right band for a bar, but the wrong song. It was interesting to see peoples reactions to the songs we picked.
5. Counting Crows - Rain King
The Counting Crows are one of those bands that has a ton of older popular songs. And while Rain King is a somewhat popular song, it is no where near as famous as Mr. Jones in any Jukebox Rotation. It’s always fun to walk away from a jukebox after making my selections and when someone asks, “What did you put in?” I just say Counting Crows. They then ask, “Mr. Jones?”. Nope.
4. Oasis - Cast No Shadow
Wonderwall is hands down the most popular song by Oasis. It’s also frequently played on our Jukebox. Not much to say about this one except it was fun to play a pretty good song that didn’t get nearly enough recognition. Another fantastic song by Oasis that doesn’t get enough attention is Live Forever.
3. Journey - Any Way You Want It
I’m just going to throw this out there. I hate Journey. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll jam out from time to time to Don’t Stop Believing. But when you’re at a bar, it’s fun to put this little diddy in and see people jam out to this silly song.
2. Weezer - My Name Is Jonas
Ah Weezer… So many good songs. It’s hard to pick the wrong song with Weezer because almost all of their older songs could be interchangeable on the Jukebox. I chose this one because it’s the song I hear the least, but like the most. I also get to sit there and play Guitar Hero in my mind.
1. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man
I know… How can Simple Man be the wrong song? Well compared to Sweet Home Alabama, or Free Bird, it is the wrong song. But it’s such a good song, you can rarely go wrong. Shinedown also has a fantastic cover of the song. You can see it on Youtube .
This has been a tumultuous week for me personally. I’m making a lot of changes in my life regarding the way I am handling certain relationships with women. As a byproduct of this ‘change’ I have been listening to a lot of music that represents how I’ve been feeling.
“What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?” - Rob ( John Cusack ) - High Fidelity
1. Jack’s Mannequin - Bruised
I’ve been on a huge Jack’s Mannequin kick lately, So I could easily replace this song with Mixed Tape. But for now, we’ll leave it be. Ironically, even though I’m feeling down, this song always brings me up.
“I lace my Chucks, I walk the aisle,
I take my pills
The babies cry…
All I hear is what’s playing through the in-flight radio
Now every word of every song
I ever heard that made me want to stay
Is what’s playing through the in-flight radio.
And I, I am finally waking up
Hours pass and she still counts the minutes
That I am not there
I swear I didn’t mean for it to feel like this
Like every inch of me is bruised (bruised)” - Jack’s Mannequin
2. Flickerstick - Got a Feeling
This is one of those songs that I’ve been listening to for years. The band is from Dallas, Tx. and they reach medium popularity nationally. They have a few other great songs including Coke, and Beautiful. But this song has always been my favorite.
“I got a feeling, it’s a feeling
That you’ll never understand
It’s like a rush to my heart
That I hope never ends
But it all depends
It’s a power such a power
A sensation that is changing how I feel about you
It’s all brand new
The fight is far from over
There’s nothing left to prove ” - Flickerstick - Got a Feeling
3. Matchbox 20 - Long Day
This is probably the most popular song on my list, but how can you have a list of songs without including Matchbox 20? This album came out over a decade ago, but I still find myself popping it in whenever I’m feeling blue. Some other great songs include How far we’ve come, and Push.
“Reach down your hand in your pocket
Pull out some hope for me
It’s been a long day, always ain’t that right
And no Lord your hand won’t stop it
Just keep you trembling
It’s been a long day, always ain’t that right” - Matchbox 20
4. Counting Crows - American Girls
There are a ton of great songs about relationships by the Counting Crows. They are one of my favorite bands and it’s hard to pick which song to put on this list. Seeing as these should be ‘less popular’ songs, I left off the likes of Mr. Jones, Omaha, Long December, and every other great Counting Crows song that could be on here. Just go Buy their Greatest Hits album and you’ll be fine.
“If I made you cry, please tell me why
I’ll try again if you let me try
American girls are feathers and cream
Coming to bed so edible
American girls, oh
American girls” - Counting Crows
5. Coldplay - Fix you
Like Counting Crows and Matchbox, Coldplay has an insanely large pool of songs to pick from… maybe even harder than CC. I could have easily picked The scientist, or Warning Sign, or any number of other great songs. If you haven’t heard this song, take a break and go watch the video on youtube right now. Both the video, song, and lyrics are absolutely amazing.
I’ve been a fan of Jack’s Mannequin for quite a while. I’ve also been waiting for his new album to come out for a very very long time. Well, Andrew Mcmahon (also from Something Corporate) has finally released his EP The Glass Passenger. Let me start out by saying that the first track ‘Resolution’ is absolutely incredible. It is one of those feel good songs that you want to put on repeat. I downloaded the EP yesterday on itunes and have probably listened to the song at least 15 times already! The song references a much more positive feeling than much of the songs from the bands last attempt. I cant help but notice some correlation between his uplifting tone and his recent recovery from a bout with cancer.
I highly recommend this song and the EP. I cant wait for the actual LP to be released!
As the crossover between electronic, punk, and hip hop becomes a common place in modern music, talented artists are starting to emerge creating a euphoric and upbeat blend of music that is both unique and entertaining. The first track I heard from 3Oh!3 is called Don’t Trust me off the Want album. 
